Conservation Resources 
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CUBAN INTERVENTION. 



SPEECH 



OF 



HON. STEPHEN M. WHITE. 



OK CALIFORNIA, 



SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, 



Saturday, April 10, 1898. 



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1898. 



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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
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http://www.archive.org/details/cubaninterventioOOwhit 



SPEECH 

OF 

HON. STEPHEN M. WHITE, 



The Senate having under consideration the joint resolution (S. R. 149) for 
the recognition of the independence of the people of Cuba, demanding that 
the Government of Spain relinquish its authority and government in the 
Island of Cuba, and to withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba and 
Cuban waters, and directing the President of the United States to use the 
land and naval forces of the United States to carry these resolutions into 
effect, reported by Mr. Davis, from the Committee on Foreign Relations- 
Mr. WHITE said: 

Mr. President: I recognize the solemnity of this occasion, the 
most momentous that within my brief day has challenged the at- 
tention of the American people. To its solution there should be 
brought the best intellectual capacity of all who have the obliga- 
tion or right to act, and the judgment rendered should be unin- 
fluenced by aught else than the dictates of justice. The high duty 
which we are called to perform will test our qualifications for the 
trust committed to our keeping. It is disagreeable, to use an ex- 
pression scarcely forcible enough to cover the occasion, to dissent 
from the common view — to antagonize a general but suddenly 
formed conclusion. It is pleasant to receive the plaudits of our 
fellow-men. 

The approval that evidences the concurrence of the public in- 
spires us all, adducing unfeigned delight that conscientious 
thought has permitted us to take action in accordance with the 
general view. Confronted by these considerations and thoroughly 
appreciative of the good will of those by whom I am surrounded, 
I can not avoid the fact that there stand on the other side sugges- 
tions of the most solemn obligations. These 1 must interpret for 
myself. There is for me nothing save to express those conclu- 
sions which my conception of right have caused me to form re- 
gardless of personal interest. I can less easily depart from the 
pathway thus demarked than sacrifice my most cherished and 
dearest surroundings. 

Nay, Mr. President, the terrible responsibility which requires 
our attention is beyond all things merely personal or individual. 
We are here to do the right, no matter what ill shall attend us. 
We are here compelled to make history; not vaingloriously to seek 
to transmit our names to posterity, but to write the record of a 
nation which we love beyond self, a record which we should so 
make that when we have passed away will shine bright and un- 
changing in the full radiance of the intellectuality and morality 
of enlightened men. 

Mr. President, what are the questions here? We witness, but 
slightly removed, a scene of war. The intervening distance is 
hourly diminishing. I agree that the conditions are such that it 



is almost useless, perhaps absolutely so, to urge a pause or to at- 
tempt to retard the warlike tendency. But it will not be amiss in 
this moment of excitement, this hour of exaltation, this time of 
unreasoning patriotism, to delay an instant and to reflect upon 
the nature of the act about to be done and the consequences cer- 
tain to follow. 

The situation is of mighty import. It is no waste of time to 
portray it with impartiality and candor. The acts here done will 
live as long as freedom — as long as justice shall be administered 
among men. We must be warranted not by an excited populace, 
but by wis8 decrees of unimpassioned history. I regret that 
under these circumstances, either in the report of the Senate 
committee or upon this floor, expressions have been used indicat- 
ing prejudice and savoring of revenge. I regret that the debates 
in this Chamber should refer to stale events transpiring under 
Spanish influences more than three hundred years ago, or that 
the committee should have spoken of "the duplicity, perfidy, and 
cruelty of the Spanish character, as they have always been." 

Mr. President, the right to make such charges we have waived. 
We have accepted a seat with Spain in the family of nations. She 
has not been excluded from out sovereign society. We have 
thrown around her the arm of fraternal friendship and seized her 
hand in affectionate clasp. We have received her ministers, sent 
ours to her court, and in all respects declared to the world our 
friendship for her. During our great Exposition we invited her 
representatives to our shores. The Infanta Eulalia was received 
with almost unexampled honors — greater, perhaps, than were ac- 
corded to the envoys of other countries. Weare estopped to seek 
a cause for estrangement in the wrongs of departed generations. 
The present difficulties must be determined in the light of actual 
conditions, without reference to the transgressions of antiquity. 
Any other treatment would be undignified and even puerile. Let 
us meet the momentous questions presented to us in the light of 
their peculiar and legitimate surroundings. As rational men we 
can afford to treat as immaterial and unfortunate the references 
to the Duke of Alva and the Inquisition. We will not, I presume, 
pretend to free Cuba or to attack Spain because of these iniquities. 

Mr. President, no one doubts that Cuba has been misgoverned. 
No one doubts that many places and many peoples in this world 
have been misgoverned. No one doubts that this great Republic 
is potent enough to defend herself in any engagement. I cor- 
dially indorse the utterances of the Senator from Colorado [Mr. 
Wolcott] with reference to this topic. There is no glory to be 
gained by the United States in a war with Spain. Intrinsically 
and as far as war itself, disentangled from other propositions, is 
concerned, no fame will be won by us. Spain is weak. She no 
longer commands the sea or dominates the land. In the march of 
events— by forces beyond her control — her foreign dominions have 
been taken away. She has been shorn of the possessions which she 
acquired by her enterprise and her valor. She has lost nearly all 
these, until she stands to-day in the presence of her woes, the Niobe 
of nations. Her financial embarrassments, her shattered treasury, 
her army reduced by disease and hunger, her navy of indifferent 
strength, her resources lessening daily — she is, indeed, but a rem- 
nant of the Spain which wrested the Alhambra from the Moslem. 

I do not fear her. No American fears her. There is no rational 
question of the outcome of the impending struggle. It must be 

3255 



victory for the American people. But, Mr. President, powerful 
as we are, with millions of freemen ready, whatever may be our 
personal views, to spring to arms and to give our every dollar and 
the last drop of blood to vindicate our nation's honor and defend 
our flag; with our fertile soil budding and blossoming with prod- 
ucts of luxury and necessity over an almost limitless area; with 
all the gifts and blessings of nature about us in rich profusion — 
our possession and our heritage — we are great enough to do justice. 

In the early days of this Republic, in the dawn of our nation's 
life, a great statesman said with truth that he knew of no spec- 
tacle more sublime than that of a powerful nation kneeling before 
the altar of justice and sacrificing there alike her passion and her 
pride. 

Here we can rest an instant to look upon conditions as they 
actually exist, and to write in compliance with verity a record 
which in cooler moments will be scrutinized by our children, who 
will ask themselves whether we were right. There may be no re- 
call for our error. There can be no excuse for a mistake easily 
detected or direful in result. 

The President of the United States, charged by the Constitution 
with the conduct of our diplomatic affairs, has been earnestly and 
actively engaged in attempting to bring about order in Cuba, fol- 
lowed by the independence of that island. It is my opinion that 
if he is permitted to pursue the course he has marked out for him- 
self, if we let him alone, Cuba will befree,theiHame incident will 
be justly and honorably settled, and not one drop of American or 
other blood will be shed as a result of present estrangements. 

But we are to have war. Every Senator who has spoken de- 
clares so, and in the same breath deprecates such a consequence. 
In beautiful language, in phraseology I will not attempt to rival, 
Senators have depicted here the atrocities of warfare. Who 
knows them not? Who has read the story of man and has failed 
to sicken at the ghastly spectacle of the battlefield? 

Lo, the giant on the mountain stands, 
His blood-red tresses gleaming in the sun. 

When did reason assign to brutal conflict the settlement of any 
dispute? What true Christian ever willingly consecrated to the 
arbitrament of brutality issues involving rectitude and honor? 
War is the last resort. If wantonly resorted to it is wholesale 
murder. 

There are times when settlement is impossible, when every rea- 
sonable offer has been spurned, and when the welfare and honor 
of individual and people alike demand that the sword shall be 
drawn. But the cause must be evident and undeniable. All 
other solutions must have failed. The nation that rushes into 
war in hot haste has not drank of the fountain of wisdom. When 
I was a child but some 8 years of age, the horrors of internecine 
strife broke upon the United States. Shattered forms, some of 
them in this Chamber, ruined homes all over the land, men and 
women mourning for those holier to them than property or life, 
furnish proof even now before the world that — 

Elemental rage is tame to the wrath of man. 

Nearly a million names upon our pension roll rehearse the story 
more graphically than human lips may depict it, and demonstrate 
how much of ill effect remains more than a third of a century 
after the storm has passed. This is but an instance. All history 

3255 



is thronged with examples and is pictured with the terrible ex- 
perience. Senators conceding all this yet say that war must 
come, because our honor shall not be impugned, even though a 
desperate struggle may be forced upon humanity. 

I agree that there are occasions where an appeal to arms alone 
remains. I repudiate the calumny that those who do not find a 
reason for extreme measures here are for " peace at any price." 
This slanderous charge emanates from the thoughtless or insin- 
cere. I am for war only when it can not be honorably and wisely 
avoided. I am against war where the desired legitimate results 
can be otherwise attained. I am opposed to precipitate action. 
In the presence of such a possibility those charged with grave re- 
sponsibility should be patient as well as firm, just as well as cour- 
ageous. A delay, even if compelled by an opponent without can- 
dor, is better than unnecessary hostilities. 

I propose in a very general manner to examine the alleged 
grounds for the action we are asked to take by the Committee on 
Foreign Relations. We are told that the abhorrent conditions in 
Cuba have been a disgrace to civilization, and have culminated 
in the destruction of the Maine and 266 of her officers and crew, 
and that the conditions prevailing can not longer be endured, as 
has been set forth by the President in his message of April 11, 
1898; and hence we are expected to declare that the people of 
Cuba are, and of right ought to be, free and independent; that 
this Government demand that Spain at once leave the island, and 
that this demand be enforced by the President. The Executive, 
in the message referred to, merely sought authority to take meas- 
ures to stop hostilities, establish a stable government, and to use 
the Army and Navy, if needful, for these purposes. All concede 
that Spain will not yield to these demands. 

Mr. President, a Senator has said that the Maine incident alone 
or the Cuban inhumanities alone might not be sufficient to pre- 
cipitate war, but that conjointly they render this outcome un- 
avoidable. Our people have never been so thrilled as when they 
learned that their great and beautiful ship in the harbor of 
Havana had been torn to pieces and that the bodies of loved ones 
had been driven into the mud and mire of an alleged peaceful 
haven. They were not and are not in a condition to take a judicial 
view. The public heart was fired, and the demand for vengeance 
echoed and echoes from every hill. It is borne from the shores 
of the Pacific far inland; it does not pause on the summit of the 
Sierras; nor does it lose its resonance upon the crest of the Rocky 
Mountains. From ocean to ocean it thunders, and on the stormy 
Atlantic tells in the language of a common kindred its uncom- 
promising resolve. 

Pause a minute, Senators, and ask yourselves: Is there, even 
under these circumstances, no possible solution except that of 
arms? I will not discuss the evidence as to the destruction of the 
Maine. I will not go over the reports of the American and Span- 
ish boards. I may not entirely agree with everything which has 
been said concerning them, but I do not intend to make this an 
arena for such a disputation. I assume, as it is my duty to do in 
view of the position of my Government, that the report of the 
American board is correct. But shall the adverse party be abso- 
lutely prevented from questioning this conclusion? Senators say 
that Spain has virtually admitted the act. No such confession 
will ever be found by the impartial investigator. Spain denies 
3255 



that she either directly or indirectly did it. The President, de- 
claring that the naval court of inquiry has the unqualified confi- 
dence of the Government, says of that report: 

It did not assume to place the responsibility. That remains to be fixed. 

He then declares that the Maine incident discloses an intoler- 
able state of things in Cuba, informs us that Spain assures us that 
she will do all that the highest honor requires, and that she pro- 
poses — 

That the facts be ascertained by an impartial investigation by experts, 
whose decision Spain accepts in advance. 

To this communication no reply has been made. No ultimatum 
has been issued by us; no final demand regarding the Maine; no 
refusal to arbitrate. The President does not find any cause for 
war here. But it is said war alone will atone for the Maine. 
Neither the question of liability nor indemnity can, it is asserted, 
be considered. Assuming a crime was committed, who are the 
guilty persons? 

General Lee says that he does not believe that General Blanco 
had anything to do with it or had any knowledge of it; that when 
Blanco heard of it he cried; he seemed to regret it as much as any- 
one. Well might Blanco regret it. He knew, as the world knows, 
that such an act upon the part of Spain would be madness. Gen- 
eral Lee, who was on the ground and observed the tout ensemble 
of the situation, said he was confident of Blanco's sincerity in 
grief. But at all events it is vehemently averred that this was an 
external explosion; that it was the result of the act of a Spaniard, 
an officer of Spain, and the penalty of his deed, under the laws of 
nations and the dictates of justice, should be visited not only upon 
him but should likewise be inflicted upon Spain. And for this 
we must resort to war. No indemnity will suffice or be accepted. 

Senators have said no indemnity can reach this case. What 
can reach it? A few years ago in an Asiatic empire there were 
several missionaries murdered. Three great nations demanded 
that the guilty should be punished. Ten or fifteen miserable 
wretches were seized, bound and placed side -by side, and be- 
headed. Perhaps some of them were guilty. At all events, they 
were offered in atonement. One of the nations involved objected 
that there were still others who had been participants in the orig- 
inal crime, and the officer in charge of the province, desiring no 
foreign complication, ordered out other victims and beheaded 
theni" likewise, remarking to the insistent foreigners, "Is there 
anything else, gentlemen, that I can do for you?" 

Are we, Senators, to solve the Maine issue upon this atonement 
theory? 

Upon what principle are we to act? Is there any question as to 
how the dispute should be settled? If it was the deliberate act of 
an individual and by any process of investigation we could dis- 
cover that individual, it would be our duty to follow him up and 
to demand that he should be delivered over to impartial justice. 
But we do not know the perpetrator. We can not identify him. 
We insist, however, that Spain shall be punished as a criminal 
and that barbaric methods shall be invoked. 

Mr. President, in cases such as this there is no settlement worthy 
of the age save the imposition, if the facts be proven, of a liberal 
and commensurate indemnity and suitable admission of the pro- 
priety of our demands. 

I would not waive indemnity. Such a waiver would be in the 
interest of Spain. Assuming that the Maine was lost under cir- 
32:5 



cuinstances involving that Kingdom, a sum commensurate with 
the deed should be exacted. If you decline indemnity, what are 
you to do? Shall we train our guns on Morro Castle, upon the 
city of Havana, drop our shells upon the innocent, and send to 
eternal judgment men, women, and children who knew nothing in 
advance of the Maine disaster and are not guilty unless their mere 
presence in the island makes them so? Will you invade Spain? 
Will you carry the sword of conquest to her capital city and 
destroy her as would the conquerors of old? Surely such conduct 
would be antagonistic to the teachings of Christianity. But I am 
told, "As a penalty, free Cuba." 

But, Mr. President, if you admit that there is to be a penalty 
at all susceptible of justification, you must concede that it should 
be exacted in accordance with the rules and laws of civilized peo- 
ples. You can not justly free Cuba except upon the merits of 
her claims. If she is entitled to freedom, her argument must rest 
upon its own merits. The day for an eye for an eye and a tooth 
for a tooth, if it ever existed, has passed away. Such a doctrine 
can not be taught, save by a heretic, from the pulpit of civiliza- 
tion. Surely no human being in this enlightened age wishes to 
slay an innocent person because of the misconduct or crime of 
another. Shall we find consolation in the mangled forms and de- 
stroyed property which will follow our invasion? If this be true 
as to the injury we are to do the Spaniard, what shall we say of 
our own people? Who shall ever pay for the stalwart andbrilliant 
American manhood to be sacrificed? For these no money can be 
paid or indemnity exacted. If our heroes must die, let it be in an 
unavoidable conflict, not in a case still under negotiation and 
where there is a difference of opinion as to the facts. 

There are times and hours when such calamities must occur. 
Such times have been; they are not forgotten in the glorious rec- 
ords of human prowess. But the time is not now. Upon what 
do you rely to justify war, Senators? Who is the President of the 
United States? I am not of his party. I need not call attention 
to that fact. But he, as our Executive, charged with the duty of 
administering diplomatic affairs, in a state paper which will re- 
main here as long as the archives of this Government endure, has 
stated your case. Before the world to-day, to-morrow, and after 
is and will be that statement, made within the Presidential juris- 
diction — a statement emanating from the loftiest station known to 
our system. 

What does he tell us? He informs us in appropriate and plain 
words that the Maine matter is the subject of diplomatic negotia- 
tion; that he has forwarded a note to Spain and that Spain has re- 
sponded, declaring that she is willing to submit the matter to an im- 
partial tribunal and to accept its verdict as final. To that proposi- 
tion no reply, no demand, has been made. We have not officially 
insisted that Spain must do any particular thing in consequence of 
the Maine incident. She denies that she is guilty, and because 
she so denies we are told eo instanti arose a casus belli; that be- 
cause she negatives the charge in the indictment she can not be 
heard before any tribunal save one of our own creation. Such is 
the proposition upon which you must act. 

In the council halls of reason, in that tribunal where a single 

nation does not dominate, but where civilization asserts itself and 

justice and manhood prevail, it will be held that there has been 

no judicial investigation of this subject, and this will be the ver- 

3255 . 



9 

diet of historj-, regardless of the report of the Committee on For- 
eign Relations. No man can judicially investigate the case of 
one he loves and honors, and who has died, according to common 
report, by perfidious hands. Can one so interested impartially 
try the accused? Our own jurisprudence is builded on other and 
more rational lines. Human nature is too weak, its infirmities 
too obvious, to permit under such conditions that impartiality 
which alone mates a judgment final in the opinion of the able and 
the just. No investigation has been conducted with "judicial 
thoroughness and deliberation," the Committee on Foreign Rela- 
tions to the contrary. No such judicial thoroughness is being 
displayed here. We are rushing along at a rate to make famil- 
iarity with the record an impossibility, and are given less time to 
examine issues involving war than is ordinarily accorded to a 
litigant in an unimportant matter. 

For a moment let us consider the other phase of this unhappy 
dispute — that which seeks to justify our invasion of Cuba because 
of the inhumanities which have been practiced there. The Pres- 
ident feelingly and forcibly alludes to the barbarities which he 
hopes to terminate. He attributes the extraordinary suffering to 
Weyler's reconcentrado order, but at the same time there is trans- 
mitted to us correspondence from our consuls in Cuba showing 
not only that the reconcentrado order has been vacated, but that 
the insurgents have themselves interfered with the ability of the 
people to earn their bread. From these reports I make the follow- 
ing extracts: 

On page 28, Mr. McGarr, at Cienfuegos, says: 

Small predatory parties of insurgents make frequent attempts to fire the 
cane fields, and it requires constant and active vigilance to prevent their de- 
struction. 

On November 17, 1897, Mr. Brice, at Matanzas, reported (page 
29): 

A general order has been issued allowing reconcentrados to return to the 
countrv, but the restrictions placed in order are such as to practically pro- 
hibit. If they went, what can they do without money, food, or shelter? Only 
those who can obtain employment on sugar plantations can live. Insurgents 
say no one will be allowed to grind in Province of Matanzas. 

The same consul, on December 17, 1897 (page 30) , reported: 

A few plantations are grinding cane. In every case they are heavily 
guarded by Spanish troops and have paid insurgents for so doing. Was 
shown a letter from insurgent chief to owner of a large plantation, in which 

Jn-ice demanded for grinding was 2,000 centones (§10,600 United States gold), 
t was paid. 

On page 33 of the same report there is a copy of an order 
issued by Calixto Garcia, of date November 6, 1897, in which it 
is stated: 

All persons who come within our lines commissioned by the enemy with 
proposals to submit to Spain will be tried and punished as spies. 

Mr. Hyatt, at Santiago de Cuba, reported on December 5, 1897 
(page 34): 

Mr. Rigney, an American sugar planter near Manzanillo, was preparing to 
grind during the coming season. A few nights since the insurgents fired 
seven cannon shots among his buildings, one ball passing through the roof of 
his house. Americans were hopeful that they would be allowed to make their 
crop, and several are making ready to do so: but the action of the insurgents 
toward Mr. Rigney gives the problem a doubtful aspect. It may have been 
a personal matter against Mr. Rigney. 
3355 



10 
The same consul, on December 14, 1897, reported (page 35): 

The order of reconcentration is now practically wiped out, and, so far as 
the Spanish Government is concerned, men go about nearly as they please. 
The insurgents and their sympathizei-s will unquestionably take advantage 
of the revocation to get from the towns and cities what they need, and other- 
wise strengthen their cause. 

On January 12, 1898, Mr. Hyatt reports (page 88) : 

I had hoped that after the reconcentration order was revoked, through 
the energetic action of the present Administration, we would find no trouble 
in reinstating American industries; but it appears that all of the benefits 
that should have accrued to our citizens are thwarted by the action of the 
insurgents, who refuse to allow them to return to their sugar, coffee, and 
other estates. The Pompo manganese mines, owned by Americans, which 
would at the present time be a very profitable investment if allowed to 
operate, are also being held up by the same power. 

" The three Kevery brothers, who I informed you recently I was about to 
assist in returning to their coffee and fruit estates, got there only to find 
they could not go to work until permission was obtained from the insurgent 
commander, which permission seems doubtful, I myself, as I understand my 
duty, being inhibited from rendering them any assistance at this point. 

Mr. Hyatt likewise reported on January 31, 1898 (page 40): 

On Sunday morning the regular passenger train on the Sabanilla and 
Maroto Railroad, when 5 miles out of Santiago, was blown up by dynamite 
bombs, exploded by electric wires; two cars were shivered in atoms. Five 
passengers were killed outright and twenty-two badly wounded, some of 
whom have since died. If is thought by some that the insurgents believed 
that Captain-General Blanco was on the train; by others that they merely 
wanted to notify the General that they were around and attending to busi- 
ness. 

This, it will be observed, is the condition of things prevailing 
after the reconcentrado order has been vacated. 

On February 1, 1898, Mr. Hyatt again forwarded a report (page 
41). He said: 

General Blanco's mild and humane policy meets with but a feeble response 
from his own followers, while the insurgents laugh at the old man who 
throws sods and grass instead of stones. 

Mr. Barker, at Sagua la Grande, on November 20, 1897 (page 46), 
reported as follows: 

As to grinding the present crop, I have interviewed most of the largest 
planters in this consular district, who stated that unless assured of immu- 
nity from the insurgent chief —Gomez— they would not jeopardize their prop- 
erty by attempting to grind. 

On December 15, 1897 (page 49), he further reported: 

Thinking it may interest the Department, I have the honor to transmit 
herewith clippings from a leading Spanish .journal published in Havana, 
* * * calling attention to the inability of the mills to grind in the Province 
of Santiago de Cuba, which is one of the obstacles to grinding in this (Santa 
Clara) province, were the planters able to pay tribute required by the insur- 
gents. 

Mr. Barker, on December 28, 1897 (page 50) , states: 
To grind this cane without interruption would be the means of saving the 
lives of thousands who, without this or outside aid within the next thirty to 
fifty days, must die of actual hunger. Over a month since the planters were 
officially advised of Spain's inability to provide protection in order to operate 
their mills. This leaves the sugar growers entirely in the hands of the 
Cubans in revolt, as to whether they will be allowed to grind without hin- 
drance or fear of total destruction of their property. I know that strict 
orders have been given to subordinate commanders under no circumstances 
must mills be permitted to grind, under penalty of violation of the order 
destruction of property. 

The people of Cuba have indeed had a hard time. Apart from 
personal perils, they have also been forced to pay onerous taxes 
and to submit to the most extravagant impositions — a state of 
things for which Spaniards and insurgents seem to be both re- 
sponsible. I am informed by authority which I deem good that 



11 

all the sugar mills in Pinar del Rio, Matanzas, and Havana were 
closed by the insurgents, each factory having some 500 men de- 
pendent upon it. 

This was a measure of war. I am not challenging or discussing 
the propriety of it. War is not sympathy— it does not beget com- 
fort or happiness. In our civil conflict we learned something of 
it. I have read in the records of that period, which our Govern- 
ment is publishing, letters from those who belonged to the respec- 
tive armies giving accounts of fearful suffering too horrible to de- 
scribe and incident to the remorseless business of carnage. Death 
amid the lurid fires of destruction has been, not only in Cuba but 
in many other lands, the common attendant of war. 

It. appears plainly enough from the President's message that 
there were two leading reasons for Cuba's suffering. One was the 
brutal order of Weyler and the other was the conduct of the in- 
surgents in refusing to allow people to go abroad and produce or 
procure the necessaries of life, as shown by the reports which I 
have read. 

Mr. President, I shall endeavor in a moment to show by the 
President's message that Spain , instead of ignoring, has been yield- 
ing to our demands and that we waited while the obnoxious orders 
of Weyler were in force, and are now demanding war when the 
spirit of concession seems to be abroad. 

But I will digress a moment to consider the specific resolutions 
before us. The President, in the light of the facts alluded _ to in 
the consular reports, concluded that the condition of affairs in 
Cuba was such that there was no government which he could afford 
to recognize. The majority of the committee, in addition to the 
preamble, reported the following: 

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled. First. That the people of the Island of Cuba 
are, and of right ought to be, free and independent. 

Second. That it is the duty of the United States to demand, and the Gov- 
ernment of the United States does hereby demand, that the Government of 
Spain at once relinquish its authority and government in the Island of Cuba 
and withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba and Cuban waters. 

Third. That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is, di- 
rected and empowered to use the entire land and naval forces of the United 
States, and to call into the actual service of the United States the militia of 
the several States, to such extent as may be necessary to carry these resolu- 
tions into effect. 

The minority propose this: 

The undersigned members of said committee cordially concur in the report 
made upon the Cuban resolutions, but we favor the immediate recognition of 
the Republic of Cuba, as organized in that island, as a free, independent, and 
sovereign power among the nations of the world. 

If we concur with the general situation outlined by the Presi- 
dent, if we accompany the majority of the committee, we can not 
escape the conclusion that the amendment of the minority is 
right, and that the Republic of Cuba, not the people of Cuba, are 
entitled to recognition. It must be understood that I am opposed 
either to a declaration of war or to resolutions which must bring 
war. I hold that there is nothing which we are legitimately enti- 
tled to seek which can not be obtained by diplomacy, and that 
Executive successes warrant this conclusion. But if we must ac- 
knowledge the independence of either "the people" or the "Re- 
public " of Cuba, I favor the latter. If there is any governmental 
organization in Cuba, outside of that of Spain, it is that over 
which Maso presides. ' The report of the committee shows this, 
and if it does not establish that the insurgents have a government, 
3255 



12 

it fails altogether. I might add that I cordially agree with the 
Senator from Wisconsin [Mr. Spooner] that the power to recog- 
nize is an Executive fnnction. I elaborately discussed that prop- 
osition upon another occasion. But the Senate it seems is deter- 
mined to recognize one of two organizations, and we must all make 
our choice, whether we do or do not favor either. 

I have no suspicion with reference to this subject. My conclu- 
sions may be wrong. I have been mistaken more than once. I 
accord that absolute concession of independent judgment to my 
neighbor that I demand for myself. But I fear that a grave error 
is threatened. 

Assuming the position taken by the majority of the Senate, how 
can it be that the people of Cuba are free, but without a govern- 
ment? Is there a monarchy in Cuba, Mr. President? The major- 
ity's resolution denies it. If the people of Cuba are free, what is 
the character of their government? From the circumstances of 
the case, it must be a republic. If you mean that the people are 
free, you mean that Maximo Gomez and those who follow him 
have been successful. The people of Cuba are not free, certainly, 
disassociated from the Republic of Cuba. Who are the men who 
have struggled for their freedom— the men who have hidden in 
the swamps, sought refuge in the forests, passed through labor 
and travail to accomplish the existence of a nation? If Cuba is 
free — and you say so — it is the insurgents wbo have made it so, 
and their government, the republic, is the representative of the 
people. Then why not recognize the republic, if you insist upon 
some recognition? 

What is the meaning of the word "people" as here used? In 
this sense the word means a nation. It is a political entity. _ It is 
not a nomadic band of disorganized adventurers or inhabitants 
without a head. There can not be a free people composed of scat- 
tering tribes or individuals with diverse objects waging local dis- 
putation, each contesting with his neighbor. If the word" peo- 
ple "is at all appropriate, it means the physical expression in 
governmental form of the concentrated power and will of those 
who inhabit the territory involved. Such an organization alone 
constitutes in diplomatic phrase a people. Why not, therefore, 
identify the government which you wish to recognize? Why 
should there be any question here— any doubt to perplex us in the 
future? 

If you are determined to expel Spain from Cuba; if you are deter- 
mined to contend that violation of the Monroe doctrine is de- 
sirable and that it is wise as well as just to invade Cuba; if you 
are willing to repudiate the precedents of our history and the 
teachings of the fathers, be nevertheless consistent. Do not go to 
Cuba without a declaration of what you intend to do. Do not go 
there without placing upon your banner in indelible and certain 
language the object you seek to attain. This looks like a war of 
conquest. For the first time in our history we are to engage in 
the avocation of either subduing a state or of making a govern- 
ment. 

Every member of this body admits that war should come only 
as a dernier resort. Then do not invoke it, save only in the 
cause of that liberty to which every Senator here declares that he 
is willing to pledge his life; but do not compel it merely because 
Spain for so many months declined those concessions which she is 
now making. Even if she is slow, or, as is said, evasive, every 

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hour brings us nearer to the end we all covet. She is gradually 
acceding to our suggestions. Is there any question as to the ulti- 
mate action of those who may seek to carry out the mandates of 
the majority resolutions? 

I attribute no ulterior motives, but able and patriotic men here 
and elsewhere have construed these resolutions as meaning that 
something may occur not in accordance with the wishes of any of 
the American people. Those who approve of intervention do not 
consent that the insurgents shall be ignored or that we shall be 
foreign state makers. Let the language, if you must pass any 
resolution, be plain and simple. Let the words be such that they 
can not be misunderstood. Now, that attention is called to it, 
there is no excuse for ambiguity. And out of all this horrid 
work— if we are to plunge into bloody scenes— let us at least evolve 
something like a real republic. The President well says that 
forced annexation would be criminal aggression. Have a care 
that this does not result. 

Oh, if it should happen, which I trust can not be, that after a 
conflict involving the taking of life, the weeping of widows and 
orphans, the deprivation of limb, and the sacrifice of the flower of 
cur flock, it should appear that we had waged a war of conquest, 
and that the permeating motive was not patriotism, but sordid 
avarice, what a desecration, what a disgrace to the American 
name! Let us have no doubt about this. We all agree that im- 
proper motives are absent, but our phrases will be the subject of 
ruthless investigation, and the vast importance of the occasion 
suggests consummate prudence. 

I agree, as I have said, with my friend from W isconsin [Mr. 
Spooner] . He and I have discussed the subject here before that 
the Executive has the power of recognizing independence. I con- 
cur with him in disapproval of language which directs the Execu- 
tive — a coordinate branch of the Government. But I do not 
design to reopen that issue, so ably treated by that distinguished 
Senator. I repeat, if we are to have recognition at all— and I 
believe that subject should be left to the Executive— let it be the 
only recognition for which there is the slightest argument, that 
of the Republic of Cuba. 

Mr. President, whatever we are to do, I repeat, let it be obvi- 
ously definite, specific, positive, so that this work may not be 
worse than it must be. 

The majority of the committee have stated as follows— I refer 
to the report, page 19 — in speaking of the insurgents: 

They have not been subdued. The autonomy proffered was specious and 
illusory. It has been rejected by the insurgents, not because it was specious 
and illusory, but because they will accept nothing short of complete national 
independence. The suggestion of a more complete autonomy has also been 
rejected by them. They declare to the United States and Spain alike that 
no terms short of independence which those powers may attempt to prescribe, 
to them will bo accepted. Spain refuses to grant independence. 

Thus the committee notifies the world that the Cuban insur- 
gents absolutely decline to accept anything short of independence, 
and that independence the committee does not intend shall be 
granted. They have placed the insurgents before us as men who 
will not voluntarily allow the intervention which this resolution 
professes to extend. The President asks for authority to establish 
a stable government. He makes no tender to the insurgents. He 
seems to recognize the peculiarity of such a course in the light of 
our nonintervention history. 



14 

Senators, you who believe in intervention as being warranted 
in the name of humanity, and who are satisfied of your jurisdic- 
tion and insist upon immediate invasion, study this platform upon 
which your country must stand with painstaking devotion. De- 
clare not that a people are free, but give that people a name. 
Nowhere in the narrative of man's transactions can there be found 
recognition such as this — so threatened and so defended. 

Mr. President, returning for a moment to the second point, as 
to the propriety of our interference upon grounds of humanity, 
let me call your attention to the diplomatic situation. Our atti- 
tude is shown more particularly by the Presidential message. 
The President of the United States has informed us that the order 
of reconcentration has been vacated. The consular reports cited 
are to the same purport. We learn that that order to which we 
attribute terrible suffering has been set aside. The consular re- 
ports advise us that the partial failure of this late humane act is 
largely due to the intervention of those who are contesting with 
Spain. There is now no order of reconcentration. In response 
to an intimation from the President, General Blanco has been re- 
quired to suspend hostilities. The bloody mandates of Weyler are 
all merely history. 

The demand of the Executive that they should be revoked and 
vacated has been affirmatively met. If the details are incomplete, 
the tendency of the present Spanish policy is toward a reversal of 
her former plan of campaign. You are, therefore, before your fel- 
lowmen with the only grounds upon which you rely for interven- 
tion swept away from you in response to Executive and popular 
demand. The Maine incident, I have said, is not closed. It is a 
subject in dispute, with an offer from Spain to arbitrate, to which 
offer we have not responded; nor, indeed, have we made — as I have 
heretofore observed — any demand whatever with relation to that 
calamity. Here is our complaint, the basis of our international 
action, upon which we must justify an attack, met by concessions 
from Spain. There is not one syllable in the Presidential message 
to indicate that it is useless to go further. If any such inference 
could be drawn from the body of the document, it is expressly 
negatived by the postscript, which shows unmistakably that the 
matter is in fieri, that it is still in progress. That debate has not 
been terminated. The President's language is as follows: 

Yesterday, and since the preparation of the foregoing message, official in- 
formation was received by me that the latest decree of the Queen Regent of 
Spain directs General Blanco, in order to prepare and facilitate peace, to pro- 
claim a suspension of hostilities, the duration and details of which have not 
yet been communicated to me. 

This fact, with every other pertinent consideration, will, I am sure, have 
your just and careful attention in the solemn deliberations upon which you 
are about to enter. If this measure attains a successful result, then our as- 
pirations as a Christian, peace-loving people will be realized. If it fails, it 
will be only another justification for our contemplated action. 

But we must have war anyhow. Our people want it. It is nec- 
essary for us, and so it is to come. Such is the unreasoning lan- 
guage of not a few. But I trust that if we follow such advice we 
will not proceed upon any basis marked out in the resolutions 
which are before the Senate. 

Years ago a man was appointed from England to a judicial 
position in India. He fulfilled the duties of his office ably. He 
was known as a great jurist. His practice was to enter judgment 
without comment. But he lost his head and filed an opinion. 
He was at once removed. The resolutions under discussion, thus 

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15 

hurriedly constructed I regret to say, must remain, not for a day, 
not as a private affair between litigants, who generally lose their 
individualities and seldom transmit the memory of their wrongs, 
but your decision will be here photographed as long as society 
and government continue to be. The reasons which you assign 
must be those which history will justify under the most rigid 
scrutiny. If you are determined to fight, if you think, consider- 
ing the whole situation, there ought to be a war, why not make 
a naked declaration to that end and proceed without the assign- 
ment of reasons which. I fear, will in calmer moments be con- 
sidered inadequate. We have heard in this debate able men 
eloquently attacking these resolutions. Their arguments will be 
more patiently examined hereafter. 

Walk upon our streets. We find one man saying war ought to 
be declared upon one ground, and another who says it ought to be 
declared upon a different account. The situation must be drl 1 
bious when the friends of action find it so hard to agree, so diffi- 
cult to justify. 

I repeat, that I fail to see in the light of a careful and painstak- 
ing investigation that the end has yet been reached and that argu- 
ment must be supplanted by force. But for Heaven's sake, make 
this record clear upon its face at least. Do not so construct it as 
to disclose any inherent weakness unnecessarily. 

Oh, I am told, we are powerful and unconquerable. True. We 
are mighty. From one end of this great Republic to the other 
there are in this exigency only united hearts, which argumentative 
differences can not sever. There is not one who will not aid in 
defending our common flag. Our resources are boundless; the 
courage of our people undenied. Granted that we might subju- 
gate the world. There is something beyond that. This, we are 
proud and prone to claim, is the Republic of the ages. Here is 
realized the dream of the ancient philosophers who led the van- 
guard of progress; those mighty few who sought to solve at too 
early a day the intricacies incident to a free government organ- 
ized so as to conserve and advance society. Are we to render a 
verdict justified only by an appeal to power? Shall ours be the 
barbarian's plea? No, I repeat, a thousand times no! I plead 
for a determination that will through all the years be approved 
by those who, knowing the truth, love it. 

Mr. President, we have been told that other nations would not 
have submitted to the Maine and other experiences which have 
been ours. Without further discussion I will concede the asser- 
tion, though it might be questioned. Many of the powers of this 
world — alleged civilized nations — have violated every canon of 
rectitude and with gory sword have cut pathways for their ar- 
mies through many opposing ranks and have raised the savage 
voice of triumph above the lamentations of suffering womanhood 
and childhood. They have erected their governments over the 
ashes of departed races. The corner stones of their institutions 
rest upon human pain and human sorrow. Shall we follow in 
the wake of such as these? Surely not. 

I may be censured for my opinion. Slow in my judgment 
though I be, I will not involve my country in a controversy which 
does not meet the entire approval of my conscience. No blame, no 
condemnation, will ever force me to bring on a conflict which I 
deem unrequired by any demand of the highest honor or loftiest 
patriotism, and which I consider in every sense premature, con- 
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16 

trary to foundation principles, and establishing a precedent upon 
which we may be seduced from those moorings where the ship of 
state has safely ridden since the days of her first illustrious cap- 
tain. I do not care what other nations might do or may have 
done. I do not take advice from them. The higher mission of 
our Republic should beget higher resolves, and weak or great, we 
should apply the same rules to all. 

Witness the face of nature as it illumines the loftier walks of 
civilization wherever on this earth the banner of Christianity 
and advancement has been borne. What language does it speak? 
It talks words of peace and good will. Men may violate the pre- 
cepts of right, but the tide of progress will flow ever onward 
toward better things. Whenever this Republic, acting in the in- 
terests of justice, shall demand that a foreign government must 
acquiesce in that which we can properly demand, that decision I 
am willing to enforce. When an exaction is insisted upon, I am 
prepared to maintain our ultimatum at whatever cost. Other- 
wise the Government must finally fail. 

But I will not continue. I might say much that is pertinent 
along the same lines. I love liberty; I aspire to witness the bet- 
terment of man everywhere. But I see plainly that in this in- 
stance our just ends could be achieved by peaceful methods. I 
care more for my own than for any other land. I will not volun- 
tarily, without imperative circumstances, force new problems 
upon her or permit her to be allured from considerations of grave 
domestic concern. 

Mr. President, those of us who dissent from the attitude of the 
majority here, and who think that the time has not arrived for 
the fierce arbitrament of the sword, entertain no doubt as to the 
issue. We know that our flag must triumph. We know that it 
must win on land and sea. There will be no dissenters in the 
camp. This is our council hall. In these Chambers, in connec- 
tion with the Executive, are solved all questions of peace and war. 

We have our opinions, deeply rooted, perhaps, and firmly set, 
but we are all Americans. The flag that floats above this Capitol 
is the flag of the whole people. The individual theory must, after 
our vote here, be subordinated to the judgment of the majority. 
When that judgment is rendered there is but one view that can 
prevail, there is but one course to pursue. Shoulder to shoulder, 
hand in hand, we march forward with equal step to vindicate the 
conduct and the action of that Government which we believe to 
be the best that Almighty God has permitted in all time. 

Upon the morrow, when this fearful crisis shall be upon us, in 
evidence of faith and loyalty and union, let there float from every 
housetop in the United States the Stars and Stripes. 



